Fears that Jack Ma, the billionaire co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE: BABA) was missing were laid to rest after he participated in the online ceremony of the annual Rural Teacher Initiative event today, January 20.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced Thursday an investigation into Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) allegedly monopolistic practice of barring its merchants from selling on competing e-commerce platforms. Merchants must agree to sell their products only on the behemoth’s online shopping platform.
Lalamove, the logistics major which offers services around the globe, announced Tuesday its Series E round raise of $515 million. Sequoia Capital China led the round which received participation from existing investors including Hillhouse Capital and Shunwei Capital.
On Friday, the Jack Ma-controlled Ant Group’s Alipay platform, which offers an impressive array of financial products to its customers, removed online deposits that it was accepting on behalf of several banks. The reason – regulatory restrictions.
The barrage of regulatory voices against the “fintech-that-shall-not-be-named” continues. In the latest call to hobble giant fintechs such as the Ant Group, former finance minister Lou Jiwei said regulators should restrict the number of banks that they can partner with.